Everything's Alright
by BigTimeHiddlestoner
Summary: A botched mission ends badly for Clint and Natasha.


**New story! This one is dark. There will be a major and slightly graphic character death. Anyways, hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MARVEL or any of their affiliates. I am not making any money by writing this. It is for entertainment purposes only. **

Clint's P. o. V:

Natasha and I sneak past a set of guards, heading towards the compound. Fury has sent us to retrieve a piece of stolen intelligence. He refused to say what was stolen, which makes our job that much harder.

Natasha and I sneak up to the entryway of the building, scanning for guards. I watch her back, making sure that someone will not be able to sneak up on us. When we are both sure that we are undetected, Natasha unlocks the door with a security badge that she swiped off of someone earlier. The light on the lock turns green, and the door opens.

I lead the way down the hallway, following the directions that Fury provided us with. We move silently and efficiently, making our way to where the stolen intelligence is supposed to be.

At last, we reach our destination. After checking to make sure that we are alone, we try to open the door. The badge does not work, and the door has to be at least six inches thick. There's no way to shoot through it. "How are we supposed to get in?" Natasha hisses.

"Stand back," I warn her, grabbing my quiver. I retrieve one of my specially made arrows. It has a vial of acid attached to it. Stark made it for me after the Chitauri attack.

Carefully, I detach the vial from the arrow tip. After making sure that Natasha is far enough away, I hurl the vial at the door. I throw my body sideways to avoid any splash back. When I look at the door again, there is a large, rapidly growing hole.

Natasha and I watch uneasily as the acid does its work. Any second now, a guard could walk past and see us. The video cameras are showing a loop of an empty hallway, thanks to some SHIELD technology. We should be safe from the cameras, at least.

Finally, the hole is large enough for us to slip through. "Move fast, but don't touch the edges. We have to be fast. The smell will spread quickly." As we get closer to the door, the stench of dissolving metal is suffocating. Without thinking twice, we step through the hole.

Our surroundings are not what we expected. We are in an empty room. Natasha immediately starts looking for a hidden compartment. I keep watch at the door, on alert for security guards. Suddenly, I hear footsteps getting ready to round the corner. "Tasha," I whisper urgently. "I hear someone coming!" Natasha whips around to face me.

"We can't leave until we find the intel! We won't get another chance, and Fury will kick our asses if we don't come back with it!" I grab her arm and pull her towards the entryway, despite her protests. The sound of voices yelling reaches my ears, and I know that we've been discovered. I sprint towards the door, Natasha in tow. Natasha tries to protest, but I keep going.

We both duck out of the room, only to be spotted by a security guard. He reaches for his gun, but Natasha is faster. She fires off a shot, killing the guard. The sound of the gunshot echoes off the walls, alerting all nearby guards of our position. I can hear running feet quickly coming our way.

Natasha and I sprint back the way we came, sucking into rooms to avoid guards. At last, we reach the room in which we entered from. I hear the clink of metal hitting the ground. Too late, my brain registers that it's a pin from a grenade. "Get down!" I yell at Natasha, tackling her. The grenade explodes, and I brace myself for impact.

Shrapnel flies by, slashing open my skin. I protect my eyes, praying for it to stop. Natasha lets out a low grunt of pain, and I immediately forget everything else. "Are you okay, Tasha?" I ask, my ears ringing from the blast. I don't receive an answer. I push myself to my feet and survey the wreckage, trying to find Natasha. At last, my eyes settle on her.

She is pinned underneath a large beam, a large goose egg developing on her forehead. Her eyes flutter weakly. I heave the beam off of her and scoop her up. She protests weakly, but I begin running with her. She is losing blood at an alarming rate from a deep wound in her leg, but I can't stop long enough to treat her.

As if to confirm this, gunshots ring out behind me. I pick up speed, trying to find an open path out of the compound. I carry Natasha's body in my arms, ducking behind walls to avoid gunfire. My hands are sticky with her blood. Shrapnel studs her pale skin, leaving behind jagged gashes. Her eyes flutter, and she weakly grasps at my arm. "What is it, Tasha? Stay awake. Talk to me. Everything's alright." I try to conceal my concern, but my voice still manages to crack.

"Put me down," Natasha gasps weakly.

"We have to keep going. I'll get you to SHIELD They'll be able to fix you." Natasha manages to scoff.

"I'm dying, Clint. I open my mouth to protest, but she cuts me off. "Even my enhanced immune system can't fix this. My femoral artery is severed. In about 3 minutes, I'm going to be dead. I'll end up losing consciousness soon. The pressure that you're putting on my leg will only delay the inevitable." I know that what she is saying is true, but I refuse to let myself believe it.

"Come on, Tasha. We have to keep going."

"No!" Natasha exclaims with sudden strength. "Put me down and go. I'm slowing you down, and it's going to get us both killed." She starts struggling as best as she can in her weakened state, causing me to tighten my grip on her. She hisses in pain as the shrapnel from the grenade digs into her skin.

I try to keep going, but she continues struggling. She almost slips out of my arms, and I have no choice but to put her down or drop her. I stop behind a wall, hoping that it will take a while for the guards to catch up to us. Natasha grimaces in pain. "Well, this isn't how I imagined myself leaving this world," she half-heartedly jokes.

Tears prick my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. "Everything's alright, Tasha. SHIELD is going to get here, and they'll patch you up." She tries to laugh, but ends up spitting blood. I stroke her hair and hold her close as her breathing becomes shallow. "Everything's alright, Tasha." I can hear the gunshots getting closer. Her chest rises and falls rapidly.

"I love you, Clint," Natasha whispers weakly. Her eyes flutter closed as unconsciousness overwhelms her. I remove my hand from her leg, knowing that there's nothing that I can do now. Gently, I cradle her head in my hands. My lips press against hers, and my tears fall onto her face.

"I love you too, Tasha. I always have." Her body goes slack in my arms. The rise and fall of her chest ceases. I press one last kiss to her head. "Everything's alright," I whisper, tears coursing down my cheeks. The gunshots are right on top of us now. I have no choice. I have to leave, or we'll both die here.

Slowly, I drag myself to my feet. I take one last glance at Tasha before turning and running away. Tears stream unchecked down my cheeks as I run. There is a physical pain in my chest and a tightness in my throat. I can't believe it.

Gunshots ricochet off of the wall next to me. I gather up my resolve and continue running. Natasha would never forgive me if she knew that I had gotten captured or killed because of her. At last, I spot a way to escape.

There is a large hole in the fence where Natasha and I came in. I quickly scramble through it and continue running. A SHIELD car is waiting for me. The agent in the car shoots me a questioning look when Natasha doesn't climb in after me. I shake my head, tears threatening to spill over again. The agent nods and begins driving away.

Silent sobs wrack my body, and I try to stop them, but to no avail. Natasha is gone. I'll never see her again. We'll never fight side by side again. I can feel my heart breaking, and against my will, loud sobs escape my body.

Everything's alright.

Nothing's alright.

**Please feel free to drop a review and let me know how I did :3**


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